"When emperors enact bad laws on the side of falsehood, as against the truth, those who hold a right faith are approved, and, if they persevere, are crowned; but when the emperors enact good laws on behalf of the truth against falsehood, then those who rage against them are put in fear, and those who understand are reformed" Augustine (letter 185)
Read introduction... or start your journey here.
Dear Friends, Welcome to an exciting journey through the pages of our glorious Christian heritage. Here we will find voices from the past. Godly, courageous, wise, and above all, scripture-loving guides; teachers, elders, and pastors spanning 1800 years; from shortly after the death of John the Beloved to around the American Civil War era. Many of whom are the household names of the Church: Ambrose, Augustine, Chrysostom, Bernard, Luther, Calvin, Owen, and Knox. Some are lesser known, but were used greatly of God in their time. I believe you will find they handled the Word of God with a reverence that eclipses the often cavalier manner of our generation.
When searching dictionaries, the definition of the word establishmentarianism is presented as “n. the doctrine or political position that advocates establishment of a church as the official state religion; -- applied especially to the Church of England” (Webster). Generally the word is taken narrowly to refer to an established church, however we often see the word used interchangeably to refer also to an established religion or social system. We will take this broader meaning in considering our points.
A religion is established as the official religion of a group of people by the authority or authorities over them. This is a generally excepted practice by Christians regarding lesser authorities, though Christians in liberal democracies generally and inconsistently disapprove of the practice by greater authorities. Let us look at examples: 1. The Christian has authority over himself to establish his religion, “By the grace of God, I believe on the Lord Jesus and profess His name, His law is my official code, His doctrine my confession, I will discipline myself if I offend it and Him and I will reject competing worldviews to usurp the rightful place of His truth.” 2. The authority of a husband in the family: “Dear wife and children, this is a Christian Family, we will obey God’s commands in our household, the Ten Commandments and the teachings of our Lord will be our rule, we will attend worship each Lord’s day. I cannot force you to be converted in your heart, but I will endeavor with all the authority and responsibility given me by God to establish in our family the Christian Faith which will open to you the way of salvation. Consequently I will not allow into our house worldly, heretical, blasphemous propaganda which violates our Faith and God’s commands.” 3. The elders and pastors of our churches lay down the Christian Faith and Scriptures as the established religion of our congregations often by use of creeds and confessions. 4. Many business owners, as the laws allow, do the same with their businesses. The confusion which we will endeavor to correct comes with the opposition to the establishment of Christianity by greater authorities, namely those who govern people either unrelated by blood or who are not voluntarily under their rule, commonly called civil authorities.
My friends, even after years of antiestablishment sentiment in the West we are still blessed daily by these applications of authoritative Christian discipline. We need help from those whom God has placed over us. When we take time to listen to the voices of our heritage we find a basically unified conviction as to the goodness and importance of establishmentarianism from all sides: catholic, Orthodox, Roman, and Protestant. With a common language they confess that the Lord requires civil magistrates and other authorities to glorify Him in their callings. A Scottish Reformer said it this way:
“The orthodox churches believe also, and do willingly acknowledge, that every lawful magistrate, being by God himself constituted the keeper and defender of both tables of the law, may and ought first and chiefly to take care of God’s glory, and (according to his place, or in his manner and way)to preserve religion when pure, and to restore it when decayed and corrupted: and also to provide a learned and godly ministry, schools also and synods, as likewise to restrain and punish as well atheists, blasphemers, heretics and schismatics, as the violators of justice and civil peace”. (Gillespie, _Works_, 1:12)
Prepare for the journey: Doctrine.
See where the rubber meets the road: Application.
Be warned of obstacles, potholes, false detours, and precarious driving conditions: Deception.
D.V., we will be improving this site from the hundreds of pages of primary source documents we have compiled, so please return.
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